MIND
by Kitkatkatiekin
Summary: The Doctor has just lost Donna. He knows that it's almost time for his song to end. But the Tardis has other plans as she flies herself to a random city and pushes the Doctor out into a world of Chaos, Murder, Genius detectives, and giant lizard-Walruses.


Hi.

I've actually been writing fanfiction for quite a while now, and I've had an account here for quite some time as well, but this is the first chapter of the first story I have ever posted on and I am very excited about it.

All comments are welcome. Please review! I would like to know if anyone actually reads this.

I would like to think of this as the start of a long and hopefully happy relationship. :D

Oh, and I don't own Doctor Who or Sherlock, but I know for a fact that I am not the only one out there who wishes that they did.

_All throughout the universe, through all realms and all times, in every dimension and at the center of life itself; there is one constant. It runs through the thoughts of every man, woman, child, plant, animal, and even some of the more intelligent bacteria._

_Why?_

_Life was built on the principle of this question, and all in existence are sustained because of how purely unanswerable it is. Of course, many have tried to find an answer; but more often than not they find that the answer is infinitely more difficult than the question._

_But the question goes far deeper than any simple three-letter word. It lives in the recesses of minds and in every subconscious, prodding towards curiosity and imagination._

_And although some of the universe's leading scientists think that…_

The Doctor closed the book he was reading and set it down on the table next to him. He sat, staring at the glimmering pool water before him. Then he stood, turned on his heel, his trainer's sole squeaking on the tiled floor, and left the library.

He had no idea what he was doing anymore. Even the familiar thrum of the Tardis's engines did nothing to calm his spinning thoughts. He supposed he really couldn't blame his friends, his companions, for going off with him and then popping back home to live out a nice long, happy life. He wondered what it were like to be them. He could never imagine himself giving up his own wonderful life of adventure, but sometimes he did wonder.

"I think your song must come to an end soon."

The familiar words rang in his head like a demon taunting him. He wasn't ready for that, not yet.

But then again, Donna was gone now, so maybe it was time.

The Doctor winced as a sharp shoot of pain ran up his leg. He gritted his teeth. He hadn't been eating, or sleeping, or traveling for a while now, and his body was paying for it. He just didn't want to keep on running. This was a problem for him, because running was his life. A life he loved. But also a life he wasn't so keen to lose so soon. But wasn't the point of staying alive so that he could help people? He wasn't helping anyone right now, much less himself.

"Everyone's song must end."

Then again, he wouldn't help anyone ever again if he died. And staying here was the best option for staying alive, for not getting trapped, for not hearing those four knocks.

He had tried to take his mind off things, do some reading, but that wasn't working anymore. And those philosophy books didn't get any better the second time he read them. He stumbled on his way to the console room.

He was tired. He was more tired than he had ever been in his long, long life; physically, mentally, psychologically exhausted to the point of near insanity. But that was another problem. If he tried to rest, or even to close his eyes, he was plagued by his mind's terrifying images; Gallifrey at war, death and Daleks riding hand in hand. Time lords falling, or changing, expelling golden light on the already red grass now stained an even deeper shade. The new Time Lords barely had time to come to terms with their new existence before they were thrown back into the fray. Some Time Lords didn't even try to change, resigned to their fate. Dalek battleships swooped down from the skies to attack or to crash and the base of the mountain before them. He remembered his own change, and how painful it had been, there on the red grass of his own home planet. Mechanical battle cries rang in the Doctor's ears, explosions and blasts of energy added to the cacophony of screams and the whirr of war machines. One of the worst sounds the Doctor had ever heard was the sound of the protective dome around the Time Lord's Citadel cracking. He remembered watching in horror as huge chunks of flaming atmospheric-resistant barrier fell from the sky. But the worst sound had been the silence.

The stone-cold, dead silence.

And he was the cause of it all; he was the reason that when he looked out of the TARDIS at the end of that terrible day, he didn't see a large, red planet and its beautiful dual suns. He was the reason that all that met his eyes was starry nothing. And complete and absolute silence.

The Tardis had been trying all she could, honestly, to cheer the Doctor up. She hummed as quietly and as calmly as she could, she warmed up any room he entered, she made her corridors really simple to follow so he wouldn't get lost unless he wanted to, which he sometimes did. She had even hidden the empty hat box that Donna had left behind. She was afraid that it might upset him if he saw it. The Tardis didn't think that she could take much more of this, she really needed an adventure.

And that was why, at the beginning of the thirty-eighth day of the Doctor's self-imprisonment, orbiting the spot where Gallifrey had once been, the Tardis locked the Doctor in the control room and took off of her own accord.

At first he almost panicked, almost. Then he just sat down in his pilot's chair and waited, arms folded, for them to land. The Tardis landed on Earth, in a completely random spot. There was an akward moment as the Doctor sat, silent and still in his chair. Then his incredible curiosity overcame him and he stood, moved to the door, and opened it. He was met by a cool breeze, whistling quietly through the trees around him, their leaves were new, small flowers budded on some branches. He reached out and took his coat from where it lay on one of the split coral columns of the control room. Then he pulled it on, taking a step out into the land beyond the Tardis doors. He was so preoccupied with the sight that it took him a moment to realize that as soon as he had crossed the threshold, the doors had slammed closed behind him. He spun on his heel to face the double blue doors. He snapped his fingers, nothing happened. He pulled out his key, but it wouldn't fit in the lock. He pulled on the handles uselessly, but they were stuck tight. He soniced the door at the highest possible setting, still to no avail. The Doctor let out a little cry of disbelief, slamming his hand against the blue wood. "Really?" he exclaimed. He spun on his heel again, this time facing away from the offending box. Then he sat down right there in the grass. He pulled his knees up to his chest and folded his arms over them. The Tardis rumbled behind him. "No I will not go exploring" he muttered in reply." I already know where I am anyway." The Tardis rumbled again, loader his time. "I am not acting immature!" he exclaimed "I just don't see why I should go looking for trouble! I am perfectly fine right here." The Tardis was practically growling now. "Fine, be that way." The Doctor rested his chin on his folded arms and started resolutely out into the gradually darkening forest.

They stayed like that for a while, the Doctor just sitting there, passionately not exploring; and the Tardis right behind him, magnificently not opening her doors.

The forest grew cold, but neither one of them noticed of cared.

Then, a piercing cry broke the silence.

Instinctively, the Doctor stood, turning towards the sound. Then he turned, cast the Tardis a suspicious glare, and sat back down.

The Tardis whirred, almost as if to plead with him to go and help. The scream rang out again, and the Doctor stood again "Help! Help me! Someone please!" The Doctor peered through the trees, "Humans..." he muttered. He cast one last glance back at his Tardis. "This doesn't change anything." He said quickly.

And he ran off.

The Doctor ran for a seemingly long distance before he finally reached the clearing from which the screams had come from.

He had become more worried as he ran; the screams had slowly become quieter and weaker. Now he burst into the clearing to find the source of the cries, a young woman, and her attacker, a dark hooded shape who was bent over the woman. He pulled out his sonic and pointed it at the offender, the sonic buzzed loudly. The thing in the hood raised its head to look at the Doctor. Blood was collecting on the front of the creature's robe and in a spreading pool on the ground.

Desperately, the Doctor waved his sonic over the girl, but it was too late, she was dead. Blood oozed from the hole ripped in her pink T-shirt. The Doctor turned back to the hooded thing. It was clearly not human; its knees bent backward, its lower legs leading down to two clawed feet. It sat back in a crouch, a long, blood-stained tongue flickered out periodically, and even thought the Doctor knew what the creature looked like beneath its hood, he couldn't help but imagine the weirdest combination of a wolf and a lizard hiding underneath the tattered black cloak.

And then there were the tusks. After a moment of silence, the creature tasted the air with its tongue again, bared its walrus-like tusks at the Doctor, and fled into the forest. The Doctor stood there for the longest time, unsure of what to do next. Chasing the monster would be asking to die. The woman's cold blank eyes stared off into the middle distance. Guilt swept through the Doctor. He could have saved her if he had only run when he had first heard her scream. But anyone in this area would still be in danger as long as that monster was around. Just then, there was a crackling of leaves and twigs snapping under feet. The Doctor stiffened and glanced around at the forest, pinpointing where the sound was coming from. Why were there so many people in this forest? He quickly turned and headed off in the opposite direction from the footsteps.

As he hurried away, he could hear voices behind him, entering the clearing. Someone started to cry. The Doctor quickened his pace, repeating 'There was nothing you could do.' like a mantra in his head. He broke out in a sprint, and didn't stop until he reached the spot where his Tardis sat. He took the handles and shook them; but the doors remained firmly locked. He could hear the footsteps behind him again. Voices came carried on the breeze, sirens in the distance. "OPEN!" he cried, the footsteps quickened, the voices grew louder. He pounded on the wood "I'm in trouble! Please open!" He couldn't remember ever begging the Tardis to save his life.

The leaves rustled behind him, four men carrying hastily gathered weapons- a baseball bat, a tent stake, a frying pan, a small hammer- and wearing angry expressions appeared from the trees. The Doctor turned his back against the Tardis, to face the group. He opened his mouth to hopefully prevent their inevitable attack, and instead found himself crying out in surprise as he fell backwards through the now open Tardis doors. The astonished faces of the Doctor's would-be attackers disappeared behind the white back of the Tardis doors.

He was lying on his back now, having been too startled (which was saying something for him) to catch his balance when the doors opened. He stayed there for a while, staring at the coral-patterned ceiling with its familiar roundels and listening to the four men pounding on the doors. He blinked, then coughed, then punched the air in mock-celebration. "Whoo-hoo." He jumped to his feet and turned to face the central column. "Glad to see you finally came to your senses" He said. He made to go to the controls, but before he could take a step, the Tardis took off again of her own accord- the Doctor couold almost see the startled faces of the men they left behind- and landed again in a matter of seconds. This time, when the Doctor opened the doors he took care not to step through the doorframe.

Reasonably tall buildings took the place of trees in the landscape around him. He was a little ways down an alley, water pooled alongside sloping sidewalks and dripped from a fire escape due to a recent rain. The Doctor realized that he was not that far from the forest, just a couple dozen miles or so. "Nice city really," he said conversationally to the Tardis, "Only miles out from its center you run into the forests, and then after that, corn! Loads and loads of cornfields." He closed the door and went to sit at the console, putting his feet up on it. "One question though," he continued "why here…

"…why Indianapolis?"

Yay! The first Chapter is done! I am loving this!

Anywho, I have the entire story already written out and ready to go so…

I'll make a deal with you, if anyone out there reads this story and finds it at least mildly interesting, then push that pretty little review button down there, and I'll be tempted to update faster.

Also, I wanted to add that when a friend of mine was reading over this chapter the other day, she said something about the pool in the Tardis not actually being located in the library. I know that when the 11th Doctor crashed into Amy's front yard and then climbed out and told Amy that the swimming pool was in the library, he probably just meant that the contents of the swimming pool had fallen down into the library with him when the whole thing fell on its side; but I like to think that the swimming pool was actually located in the library. It just makes the Tardis that much more cool.

Sherlock will appear in the next chapter!

Review! Please!

It's as easy as pie!


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